Taking cognizance of the report published by The Hindu on Monday indicating low Muslim representation in this year's admission to nursery classes in Delhi's private schools, the National Commission for Minorities has said that it will urgently look into the matter and take action. National Commission for Minorities chairman Wajahat Habibullah said: “We have got a copy of the letter submitted to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on the issue and...

-The Times of India Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday rewarded a woman who refused to live at her in-laws house because there was no toilet. The decision to reward the tribal woman, Anita Bai Narre, with Sulabh Sanitation Award, comprising a cheque of Rs 5 lakh, is aimed at encouraging sanitation and hygiene, which would boost the low-cost toilet movement. Newly-wed Anita Bai of Betul district of Madhya Pradesh hit...

-The Times of India With Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa giving the nod for the Kudankulam nuclear power plants, Russia said that it was going to send its scientists to the site on Tuesday to start commissioning work for the first unit of the reactors. Russian officials in India said that Moscow stood vindicated by Jayalalithaa's decision to back the reactors that couldn't be commissioned last year because of sudden protests...

-The Telegraph Guwahati may be waiting for its Mercedes Benz debut but the state’s poor have become poorer in the past five years, with Assam and four other states of the Northeast recording a rise in poverty levels, Planning Commission figures revealed today. Assam now has 116.4 lakh persons living below the poverty line, Manipur 12.5 lakh, Meghalaya 4.9 lakh, Mizoram 2.3 lakh, Tripura 6.3 lakh, Nagaland 4.1 lakh and Arunachal Pradesh...

The Centre on Saturday asserted that adequate funds were available during the2012-13 financial year to meet job demands by below poverty line (BPL) households under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS. Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh underlined that he has recommended reallocation of funds for rural development, especially fordrinking water and sanitation projects, to ensure inclusive growth and reflect the percolation of the high growth rate to the rural side. At the...